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Happy Monday, everyone. The Tigers lost their weekend series against the Jays, but it’s a new week, so perhaps new opportunities lie ahead. The Tigers will start trying that today as they open their four-game home series against the Cleveland Guardians. The Guardians currently hold a tenuous lead in the AL Central, so these next four games could really shake up the division standings. For game one, the Tigers were leaning on Framber Valdez, while the Guardians had Slade Cecconi on the mound.

After a 45-minute weather delay, the game got underway. The Tigers got the Guardians out in order, which is precisely how you’d like to see the game start. In the home half, Kevin McGonigle got a one-out single. Dillon Dingler then hit into a force out, eliminating McGonigle and finding Dingler safely on first. Riley Greene then doubled, and Dingler was able to get all the way from first to home, putting the Tigers on the board nice and early. They’d have to settle for the one run, but it was a good start for the struggling team.

Greene gets us on the board! pic.twitter.com/rbzUfkmbOH

— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) May 18, 2026

With two outs in the top of the second, Travis Bazzana singled. Hot on his heels, Steven Kwan walked, to put two runners on. A lineout ended the inning, though, and nipped the threat in the bud. In the home half, the Tigers went 1-2-3.

Bryan Rocchio started the third inning with a leadoff triple. With one out, Angel Martinez walked. Chase DeLauter then hit into a force out, eliminating Martinez, but bringing Rocchio home to tie up the game. Rhys Hoskins then doubled, which scored DeLauter and put the Guardians in the lead. The Tigers made an effort in the bottom of the inning, with a single by Colt Keith, followed by a Kevin McGonigle walk, but a double play swiftly put to bed any hopes of a comeback.

In the top of the fourth, Kwan took a one-out walk, his second free bag of the day. But he was eliminated in a double-play off the bat of Austin Hedges. At least this game had equal opportunity double plays. Heading into the home half, Riley Greene got things going with a leadoff single. With two outs, Riley Greene was snagged before he could get back to first, and while he was initially called safe, Cleveland asked for a review, and the call was overturned.

Rocchio was once again the one to get things going for the Guardians, as he took a leadoff walk in the fifth. Martinez singled, followed by a single from Jose Ramirez to load the bases. DeLauter grounded into a force out that eliminated Ramirez, but scored Rocchio, pretty similar to how they scored the first run of the game, honestly. After a very lengthy at-bat from Rhys Hoskins, a sac fly brought Martinez in. A groundout ended the inning, but the Tigers’ early lead was now starting to look pretty laughable. They did little to help themselves in the home half, going three-up, three-down.

Valdez was done after five innings, with an elevated pitch count and a pretty rough overall outing. His final line for the game was 5.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 3 K on 89 pitches. He was replaced by Brant Hurter. Bazzana got a leadoff single, then Kwan walked for the third time in the game. A Hedges sac bunt advanced both of the baserunners into scoring position. Rocchio walked, and that was it for Hurter, who gave way to Connor Seabold. Martinez then singled to bring another run in. Ramirez doubled into deep right and it almost looked like it would clear the bases, but two runs got in before the Guardians held up. Seabold was able to turn it around long enough to get the final outs of the inning, but the score was looking pretty ugly. In the bottom of the inning, the Tigers went 1-2-3.

The Tigers managed to get a rare 1-2-3 inning against the Guardians to start the seventh. They certainly needed it. Riley Greene got a leadoff walk in the home half, but he was swiftly eliminated in a double play, and then a McKinstry flyout ended the inning. Props to Greene, though, for being the one guy on the team with some consistent hustle.

The Guardians once again went down in order in the eighth. In the home half, the Tigers were finally able to get something done, thanks to a leadoff home run from Matt Vierling. With one out in the inning, Cecconi’s night was done. (Just a moment pause here, but Johnny Kane and Jason Benetti had a lengthy conversation about the Tropicana Field rays in this inning and mentioned “the ones that survived” the hurricane. For those who worry about animals and their welfare, please know that all 7 of the rays that lived at Tropicana Field during Hurricane Milton survived the hurricane without issue and were moved to an aquarium while the stadium was rebuilt. The phrasing made it sound like some of them died, and they definitely didn’t. Sincerely, a person who needs to check if animals die before watching a movie.) Matt Festa replaced Cecconi and got the final two outs of the inning.

Enmanuel De Jesus came in for the ninth and promptly gave up a home run to Ramirez. DeLauter then walked. Three outs in a row, including one that looked dangerously close to being a home run but got snagged on the warning track, ended the inning and sent the Tigers to their last chance to make something happen. Peyton Pallette came in from the Guardians’ bullpen and gave up a one-out walk to Dingler. Riley Greene was then hit by a pitch. Torkelson lined out to first but advanced both baserunners into scoring position. A groundout ended the inning and the game, though, and the Tigers would have to hope for better things tomorrow.

Final: Guardians 8, Tigers 2

The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres meet for the first time this season on Monday, May 18 at Petco Park and with just half a game separating these two teams, it could make for some intense baseball in this early season NL West showdown.

The Dodgers are back in the top spot in the divisional standings after briefly being surpassed by their rivals to the south after a five-game winning streak. The Dodgers bats woke up from a slump over the final two games of their home rivalry series against the San Francisco Giants and throughout a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim over the weekend with Shohei Ohtani seemingly turning a corner at the plate, but San Diego presents a different challenge than either of those teams.

Craig Stammen habló sobre la intensidad de la rivalidad entre Padres y Dodgers, destacando lo emocionante que es cada enfrentamiento entre ambos equipos.

Vía: @FiguezDSS#MLB#Padres#Dodgerspic.twitter.com/4N53BL0hs0

— D/S Sports MX (@dssportsmx) May 19, 2026

The Padres also have gotten off to a slow start offensively. Fernando Tatis Jr. notably has yet to hit a single home run in 193 plate appearances this season and has a .581 OPS, almost 200 points under his career low of .771 in 2023. Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill, two of the Padres' other most impactful bats, have yet to provide said impact yet, either, with Machado slugging .327 — he's never slugged below .400 in his 15 big league seasons — and Merrill's .206 batting average down significantly from when he hit .292 in his All-Star rookie season in 2024.

Both of these teams have been able to stay atop the standings due to their pitching, but in different ways. For the Padres, Michael King and Randy Vásquez have been two stabilizing presences in a rotation that has been decimated by injuries all season long. Both of them are due to pitch in this series. The Dodgers, meanwhile, relied on their starters in the first few weeks of the season, but that's changed as IL stints to Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell have depleted their depth. But with Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Emmet Sheehan and Ohtani (and his MLB-leading 0.82 ERA) all set to go in San Diego.

The matchups are set. The stakes in the long run aren't all that high in May, but it'll be an opportunity for each side to get a look at how they match up in an NL West race that could stay this close down the stretch.

How to watch the Dodgers vs. Padres series this week

Monday, May 18

• Time: 6:40 p.m. PT
• Location: Petco Park, San Diego, California
• TV/streaming: Spectrum SportsNet LA (Dodgers), Padres.TV (Padres)

Tuesday, May 19

• Time: 6:40 p.m. PT
• Location: Petco Park, San Diego, California
• TV/streaming: Spectrum SportsNet LA (Dodgers), Padres.TV (Padres)

Wednesday, May 20

• Time: 6:40 p.m. PT
• Location: Petco Park, San Diego, California
• TV/streaming: Spectrum SportsNet LA (Dodgers), Padres.TV (Padres)

Dodgers vs. Padres pitching matchups

• Monday, May 18: Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs. Michael King
• Tuesday, May 19: Emmet Sheehan vs. Griffin Canning
• Wednesday, May 20: Shohei Ohtani vs. Randy Vásquez

Dodgers vs. Padres lineups

Here's the lineup for each team ahead of the series opener between the Dodgers and Padres on May 18:

Dodgers lineup

• Shohei Ohtani, DH
• Mookie Betts, SS
• Freddie Freeman, 1B
• Kyle Tucker, RF
• Will Smith, C
• Max Muncy, 3B
• Andy Pages, CF
• Teoscar Hernández, LF
• Hyeseong Kim, 2B

Padres lineup

• Fernando Tatis Jr., 2B
• Miguel Andujar, DH
• Gavin Sheets, 1B
• Manny Machado, 3B
• Xander Bogaerts, SS
• Jackson Merrill, CF
• Nick Castellanos, RF
• Ramón Laureano, LF
• Rodolfo Durán, C

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dodgers vs. Padres preview, lineups, pitching matchups

In a matchup of kitchen sink junkballers, only one team was able to make anything happen in a low-scoring 3-1 Royals loss. Seth Lugo gave up a two-run home run to Willson Contreras in the sixth inning, his 10th homer of the season, and that was 50% of the runs scored from either team the whole game. That home run now also represents 50% of the home runs given up by Lugo all season. Coincidences!

That’s not to say Lugo was bad. He wasn’t. Both these guys were throwing all their junk. MLB Statcast picked up 8 different pitch types from Lugo and 6 from Sonny Gray. Gray’s was much more effective, though. His top pitch thrown was his four-seam fastball, but the sweeper was just behind it. He got 13 swings against the sweeper and 7 whiffs!

Gray had the entire Royals offense fooled (especially Isaac Collins), except for Jac Caglianone. Cags hit a couple missiles, including a double that brought in Carter Jensen in the 7th for the Royals’ first, and only, run of the night. The Royals threatened in the fifth too, with Michael Massey on second base. On a grounder through the hole between third base and shortstop, Massey was waved home (in what seemed to me like a late signal). The play at the plate was close, but Masataka Yoshida made a good throw that beat Massey to the plate. The slide looked very awkward, and it was the kind of slide that could tweak a bad back. Massey has a bad back. Oof.

Gray finished with 6 innings pitched and a season-high 9 strikeouts among 5 hits, 1 walk, and 1 run. It was easily his best start of 2026.

Lugo did not strike out as many guys as Gray (5), but he similarly limited any scoring threats by preventing hard contact, with the one exception involving Contreras. Lugo pitched 6 innings and gave up 5 hits, 2 runs, and 2 walks amid those 5 strikeouts.

Not that it ended up mattering, but Alex Lange gave up the third run in the 7th. He gave up a leadoff double, and then Nick Sogard put down a nice bunt that was just far enough that Lange couldn’t get it. Too short for Garcia to get it in time – Sogard was safe at first. Jarren Duran hit a can of corn fly ball to left field that was deep enough to score the runner on a sac fly.

Aroldis Chapman set down the Royals in order in the ninth inning. Quietly. The game started early due to the threat of bad weather, and both teams played like they wanted to be in bed reading a book by the time the weather hit. I guess I can’t blame them. As I type this, I do see tornado warnings on the front end of the storm.

Of note: Salvy had two ABS challenges on consecutive pitches that were overturned. A 2-0 count switched to 0-2. Salvy’s pretty good at this. That and Cags’ hard contact might be the only high points for the Royals from this game. Oof.

The Royals move to 20-28. The Red Sox are now 20-27. They play each other again tomorrow at 6:40pm US Central.

When the Padres and Dodgers face-off for the first time this season, the rivalry between the two teams separated by just 123 miles were put on hold before the first pitch was thrown.

After tragedy broke out Monday morning following a shooting at a San Diego mosque that left five dead, the Padres and Dodgers held a moment of silence to honor those who heartbreakingly passed away.

Among the five dead included two teenaged gunmen, police sources told The Post Monday.

One of the victims was a mosque security guard who “played a pivotal role in assisting, this could have been worse,” said a San Diego police officer at the press conference.

The suspects, believed to be aged 17 and 19, died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds, police said during a press conference.

The Dodgers entered Monday’s game, the first of three straight, with a half-game lead in the NL West over the Padres. Despite struggles from both teams — primarily on the offensive side — the Dodgers and Padres are still considered among the beat teams in the MLB.

Los Angeles tabbed Yoshinobu Yamamoto to start game one against Padres ace Michael King.

Imagine I told you that the Orioles went into Tropicana Field tonight and got to starting pitcher Shane McClanahan for four runs in five innings. You’d be excited, right? McClanahan is one of the best lefties in baseball this year, and the Orioles are terrible against lefties. He came into this game on a 21.2-inning scoreless streak. Four runs in five innings is pretty darn good!

Well….it is. But let me tell about the rest of the game. Because spoiler: the Orioles got their butts kicked.

Trevor Rogers continued to make the case that 2025 was not a case of him figuring things out, but rather a fluke. After getting knocked out of the game after four innings and six runs in his last start, Rogers got even worse. Tonight, he was knocked out after 3.2 innings and eight runs.

I guess let’s start at the beginning or whatever. Rogers allowed one unearned run in the first inning, and he honestly had a pretty good start to things. He did give up a leadoff double that was almost a homer to Yandy Díaz, who feasted on Orioles pitching tonight. But Díaz would have been stranded if not for an error made by Gunnar Henderson. Instead, he came in to score on a sac fly.

In the second inning, Rogers really had no one to blame but himself. The frustrating thing is that he looked like he was almost out of trouble before things exploded. The speedy Chandler Simpson started the inning with a double, but was thrown out at third on a ground ball to shortstop. A Taylor Walls double put runners on the corners, but Rogers got a big strikeout for the second out.

Instead of getting the third out, Rogers let the next five batters reach base, starting with Díaz. Single, single, single, walk, double. The double, by Jonny DeLuca, would have been a single but took a weird deflection off Jeremiah Jackson’s glove as it went into the outfield. Regardless, after that DeLuca hit, the Rays had scored six runs.

After a 1-2-3 third inning, Rogers started, but did not finish, the fourth inning. The defense gave him some trouble as Blaze Alexander couldn’t get to a hit from Ryan Vilade that turned into a triple. That knocked in Junior Caminero, who had walked. It also drove Rogers from the game. He was replaced by Cameron Foster, who seemingly got an inning-ending groundout. But DeLuca was too fast and beat out the throw. Vilade scored to close the book on Rogers, and Cameron ended the inning without further damage.

The final pitching line on Trevor Rogers: 3.2 IP, 8 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 2 BB, 3 K. He threw 88 pitches, and his ERA went up to 6.87. What are they gonna do with this guy? The Orioles aren’t exactly flush with starting rotation options.

When Rogers exited the game, the bullpen picked up right where he left off. Foster came back out for the fifth inning and allowed four runs of his own. He loaded the bases with no outs on a double, walk, and a single. A groundout knocked in the Rays’ ninth run of the game, then Caminero cleared the bases with his 13th home run of the year.

Dietrich Enns followed Foster. He was also terrible. Three hits and three walks resulted in four more runs for the Rays. That made 16, if you’re still bothering to keep count.

Should we go back to the offense for a bit? It didn’t make a difference in the end, but the O’s had a pretty good game at the plate. As I said earlier, they got to McClanahan for four runs in five innings. They got on the board in the third inning on a Taylor Ward double followed by an RBI single from Adley Rutschman.

They added three more in the fifth, after the game was already out of hand. Weston Wilson got his first home run of the year. McClanahan walked Alexander and Rutschman, who both came in on a double from Pete Alonso. In the middle of all that, Henderson struck out. He was hitless in the game.

The Orioles continued to score after McClanahan left the game. Rutschman hit his seventh home run in the seventh. And in the eighth inning, they added on one more run before Alonso struck out with the bases loaded.

It’s a shame that the Orioles scored six runs in the game and it was still never even close. Rutschman had two hits, a walk, and reached on an error. Alonso had his first three-hit game as an Oriole. Wilson and Jackson had two-hit nights. Ward, Alonso, Jackson, and Alexander had doubles.

The Orioles were down by 10 going into the bottom of the 8th, which meant it was position player pitching time. Wilson made his third pitching appearance of the year. The first two batters reached via hit, then Jonathan Aranda hit a ground ball back to the pitcher. Wilson went to second for the first out and Aranda basically walked to first base to give plenty of time for the double play. He got the final out on a fly ball to lower his season ERA from 27.00 to 15.83.

There was a moment of panic (by me, and hopefully only me) when Rutschman got hit on a backswing in the eighth inning. He was down for a few moments but finished the inning. Knowing the Orioles’ luck, he’d get hurt in a meaningless moment.

Down by 10 in the ninth, the Orioles were retired 1-2-3. Thanks for putting us out of our misery there, guys.

Orioles lose, 16-6. Tomorrow they have Kyle Bradish on the mound so maybe they can avoid a second straight night of this foolishness.

The Braves started a four game series in Miami with JR Ritchie on the mound, facing Max Meyer for Miami.

The first three half-innings were fairly quiet, as both pitchers worked around a baserunner here or there, with a not-so-brief interlude, as the home plate ump was hit in the mask with a foul ball and ultimately had to exit the game. A Ha-Seong Kim error put a runner on first with one out in the second and that turned into trouble, as a single from the next Marlin put runners on the corners. The unearned run came home with a groundout that nearly became an inning-ending double-play. The inning ended with another ground ball, as the Kim error cost Atlanta.

After a clean third for both pitchers, Ritchie got himself into trouble again in the fourth, as a leadoff single turned into bases loaded with one out, with a hit batsman and a walk. A single (directly through Ozzie Albies) brought home two runs and a ground ball to Kim gave him no play, for an RBI infield single. Ritchie then got a well-hit ball toward Yastrzemski that Mike completely misread and ultimately saw the ball bounce off his glove, turning an inning-ending flyout into a two-RBI double. At this point, the game could easily be 0-0 with competent defense from Atlanta, but instead sat at 6-0, Miami. Ritchie didn’t help himself tremendously with his control, however. That was the end of Ritchie’s outing and he was honestly alright on the evening, with horrendous defense behind him.

The offense did nothing in the fifth and Aaron Bummer got the 5th, exacerbating the disaster. Bummer issued four walks with one lineout sprinkled in, walking home a run and then gave up a grand slam, giving Miami an 11-0 lead. Bummer ten allowed another home run, as this inning illustrated his ineffectiveness at the moment. Bummer issued his fifth walk of the inning and allowed a single before mercifully finishing the inning. At this point, I’m just going to check back in at the end of this game, perhaps with a few offensive highlights, barring something insane (Narrator: There were no offensive highlights, nor anything insane.

Well that was bad. Let’s wash the taste of that out of our collective mouth tomorrow at 4:10 PM ET, for some reason.

The Philadelphia Phillies (25-23) were without a couple of regulars to begin the night but still found a way to come from behind in the eighth inning to win their fifth consecutive ballgame by a score of 5-4 against the Cincinnati Reds (24-24) on Monday night.

Kyle Schwarber was out of the lineup with an illness and Brandon Marsh was rested, though he did enter as a defensive substitution later on.

Andrew Painter put together his second straight strong outing, going six innings and allowing only two runs.

The Phillies opened the scoring in the bottom of the first after a leadoff double by Trea Turner, a walk by Bryce Harper and a double steal put two runners in scoring position and a walk by Alec Bohm loaded the bases with no outs. Sacrifice flies by Edmundo Sosa and Adolis Garcia made it 2-0.

The Reds would get it right back in the top of the second with three straight singles and a sacrifice fly before KeBryan Hayes hit into an inning-ending around-the-horn double play.

Bohm broke the tie in the bottom of the sixth for his first of two hits on the night, a one-out solo shot to straightaway center field, his fourth homer of the year.

Alec Bohm go-ahead shot in the sixth as the Phillies are looking for their fifth straight win! pic.twitter.com/BRud6a0WEr

— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) May 19, 2026

The Reds again answered back in the next half inning as Brad Keller, ahead 0-2 against his first batter in relief of Painter, surrendered a leadoff home run to Sal Stewart.

At home they call me Big Sal and I hit dingers@stewart_salpic.twitter.com/RBVfFd3eud

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) May 19, 2026

Jose Alvarado coughed up the lead in the top of the eighth inning with a two-out RBI double by Spencer Steer before Orion Kerkering induced a pop up by Stewart to end the threat.

With two outs and a runner on first, Bryson Stott flexed his power stroke once again with a go-ahead two-run homer to right field. After going homerless in March and April, Stott now has five in May and is averaging an RBI per game across his last 20 played.

Bryson Stott with the go-ahead shot 🔔 pic.twitter.com/OODXx8K6eS

— MLB (@MLB) May 19, 2026

Jhoan Duran had two K’s in a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth for his eighth save of the season in as many opportunities.

pic.twitter.com/kDx0D45Hi3

— cboxmedia (@cboxmedia2024) May 19, 2026

Same place same time tomorrow night as Jesus Luzardo is slated to do battle against righty flamethrower, Chase Burns.

One cannot tell the complete history of the Boston Red Sox without considering the game they played tonight, Monday, May 18, 2026. I mean, one can, but they’d be doing the team a disservice. Tonight’s game counted and the record should reflect that. It doesn’t matter how wack the team has been and should be looking to the future in the both the near- and long-term. Like, Roman Anthony has suffered a setback and everything. And yet we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the next thing the Red Sox do. Fuck the past; how is the future? For one night, it seemed pretty rad.*

*(Just now, in writing this post, it occurs to me that I said Kyle Isbel was the starting pitcher. While objectively funny, that’s a very stupid thing to do. That’s a Monday special, folks.)

Anyhow, Sonny was great and outdueled Padres legend Seth Lugo, who got bit by a two-run Willson Contreras dong in the fifth to open the scoring.

Hey Seth: Why don’t you lu-go fetch the ball from the stands? Idiot.*

*We have no idea if Seth Lego is an idiot and one pitch cannot provide evidence one way or the other. It sounded cool tho and he got rocked so deal with it.

Sonny Gray gave up one run in 6 innings, tho that one run was in the 7th, so use ur noggin on that. Broader point: He was Good Again. And when he struck out Bobby Witt Jr. he tied Bobby Witt Sr. for strikeouts all-time. You just can’t predict baseball, folks.*

*Kalshi would disagree. And as much as I hate it I set up an account to bet $10 that JD Vance would *not* be the GOP nominee in 2028 at like 1:1 odds. It’s a win-win vote because he sucks so hard! If he’s the nom he’ll lose! That’s worth $10!

Outside of a brief Gray/Justin’s Laten hiccup in the 7th, the Sox’s pitching was immaculate, including an impressive ultimately shutdown inning from Garrett Whitlock in the eighth. The Sox faced old friend John Schreiber in the 9th and he got pulled after walking Jarren Duran, which serves him right for no longer being on the team, whether his fault or not.*

*It wasn’t.

I wish it would stop doing that. I’m just trying to—*

*But you’re doing it.

Fair enough.*

*Wrap it up!

Fine. Aroldis Chapman came out and finished the Royals off which was the dream of the French for hundreds of years. (They didn’t have the power of a failed Starling Marte challenge.) All that even if the early years of “England” as we know it was run by French people and the king didn’t speak English for a long, long time. The French hating the French? Mon dieu! That’s not what we’re here to talk about tho. Those kings are just as dead as KC was tonight. For (New) England! (England sucks too tho. That’s why they made a New one.)

Enough of all that. Sox win!

BOX

Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager has been placed on the 10 day injured list due to back spasms, the team announced today. To take his place on the active roster, the Rangers have recalled Michael Helman from AAA Round Rock.

Seager last played on Wednesday, and was 0 for his last 27. The Rangers were off on Thursday, and then Seager had a scheduled day off in Houston on Friday. He was out of the lineup Saturday and Sunday due to back spasms that reportedly cropped up after Friday, and president of baseball operations Chris Young said the team is choosing to be careful with Seager to avoid potential larger back problems down the road, as well as give Seager a “mental reset.”

With Helman up, the Rangers now have no position players on the 40 man roster who are not in the majors, be it on the active roster or on the injured list. Cody Freeman, who started the year on the injured list, is currently on a rehab assignment, and we could see Freeman come up at some point before too long.

Whew, baby! Exhale everyone, and take the remainder of this pregame to rest on the laurels of an electric Crosstown conclusion that was almost certainly the best such series from a South Side perspective since 2021’s roller coaster three-gamer at then-Guaranteed Rate Field. That one, you might remember, was also characterized by a lopsided win for each side and a dramatic, unlikely White Sox comeback to split the difference. There were also shades of 2019, when Eloy Jiménez’s ninth inning, game-winning bomb produced one of the iconic calls of Jason Benetti’s White Sox tenure and, just as importantly at the time, announced to baseball fans in Chicago that the Sox were once again worth paying attention to.

It remains to be seen what kind of trajectory the 2026 team will follow for the remainder of this summer, but while Benetti’s call might have been absent from Edgar Quero’s heroics yesterday, the image of pandemonium as he rounded the bases may similarly remain as a point of reference in the memory of this squad’s emergence from the abyss.

I’ve been calling it “Ricky’s Boys Don’t Quit: 2026 Version,” and it seems to keep holding true. That 2019 team was hovering around .500 as late as the All-Star Break before fading down the stretch to the tune of 89 losses. That 2019 team was also characterized by simultaneous, exciting and unlikely breakouts from Lucas Giolito, Yoán Moncada, and Tim Anderson, supplemented by Jiménez largely meeting expectations as a rookie, perhaps not dissimilar from what we’re witnessing out of Davis Martin, Colson Montgomery, Miguel Vargas, and Munetaka Murakami now.

What smells more promising this time around is that the major league roster in 2019 didn’t have a stream of incoming reinforcements anything near to what we’re expecting in 2026. Luis Robert Jr. and Nick Madrigal weren’t realistically expected to arrive until the following year, and Andrew Vaughn wasn’t even in the system until midway through the season. Dylan Cease and Zack Collins were the only prospects of note to graduate to the big leagues in 2019, and even if their meager contributions can’t be beat by whatever combination of Braden Montgomery, Jacob Gonzalez, Hagen Smith, Tanner McDougal, and perhaps even Rikuu Nishida makes it to Chicago this summer, there’s still the return of Kyle Teel to look forward to. I suspect the final fortunes of the 2019 team would have been better if they had been able to call upon Sam Antonacci early in the season instead of dedicated 400+ outfield plate appearances to Ryan Cordell and Charlie Tilson.

Tragically, that 2019 time never quite even made it above .500, peaking at 34-34 on June 18. Tonight, facing the Mariners for the second time in as many weeks, the Sox have a chance to make it three games above water, a feat they haven’t managed since Sept. 20, 2022. Here’s the lineup they’ll run out to try to get it done:

It’s probably fortunate that Noah Schultz missed Seattle when they came to town, because after averaging four walks per game over his last four starts, tonight might be the night that I start to worry about him just a little bit if he can’t show some progress at limiting the free passes.

If you’re noticing that Will Venable seems to have emptied the bench of lefties tonight, it’s because Seattle is set counter with Bryan Woo and his 100-point OPS platoon split.

Woo has been largely excellent this season, with only a two-start, 13-run aberration spiking his ERA to 3.91 on the aggregate. First pitch is a late one, of course, scheduled for 8:40 p.m. CT from T-Mobile Park. If you want to join us, broadcasts are available on CHSN (TV) and WMVP AM 1000 (radio) like always!

Finally, the Dodgers and Padres meet for the first time in 2026.

Tonight's #Dodgers lineup at Padres: pic.twitter.com/6HY7S5XxSH

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 18, 2026

Tonight’s starters. pic.twitter.com/M0y3Qz3tK5

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) May 18, 2026

Monday’s game info

• Teams: Dodgers at Padres
• Ballpark: Petco Park, San Diego
• Start time: 6:40 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

The San Francisco Giants begin a three-game road series against the Arizona Diamondbacks tonight.

Taking the mound for the Giants will be left-hander Robbie Ray, who enters tonight’s game with a 3.04 ERA, 4.92 FIP, with 49 strikeouts to 20 walks in 50.1 innings pitched. His last start was in the Giants’ 4-0 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers last Wednesday, in which he allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits with two strikeouts and two walks in four and two thirds innings.

He’ll be facing off against Diamondbacks right-hander Zac Gallen, who enters tonight’s game with a 5.02 ERA, 4.58 FIP, with 29 strikeouts to 14 walks in 43 innings pitched. His last start was in the Diamondbacks’ 7-4 loss to the Texas Rangers last Tuesday, in which he allowed seven runs (four earned) on six hits with four strikeouts and two walks in four and two thirds innings.

Game #48

Who: San Francisco Giants (20-27) – Arizona Diamondbacks (22-23)

Where: Chase Field, Phoenix, Arizona

When: 6:40 p.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area

National broadcast: n/a

Radio: KNBR 680 AM/104.5 FM, KSFN 1510 AM